Electromagnetic lens



1954 c. c. CUTLER ELECTROMAGNETIC LENS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 19, 1949 FIG. 2

TRANS INVENTOR C. C. CUTLER CZQW A T TORNEY Feb. 16, 1954 c. c. CUTLER 2,669,657

ELECTROMAGNETIC LENS Filed Nov. 19, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 E k .8 k n 2 2 .6 3 5.; 20 35 \5 Q h o: w 'u S .4 k g z u g u E E '6 Q 5 Q R l g I h. E -P-- -g a l: a so so 90 w: ANGLE or INCIDENCE 6:,

DEGREE OFF AXIS BANDWID TH CHARAC TE R/S TIC I l l I I I l I 1 INCHES FROM CENTER OF HORN HOUT AHPL/ TUDE CHARAC TE R/S TIC FIELD STRENGTH IN DEC/EELS I l I l l l l l l 4| 1: 12 l0 s a 4 2 0 2 4 s a /0 12 1a mcuzs may CENTER or HORN MOUTH N l/ E N TOR C. C. CU TL ER A T TORNEV Feb. 16, 1954 Filed NOV. 19, 1949 FIG. 5

C- C. CUTLER ELECTROMAGNETIC LENS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 may or REFRACT/ON n 7 I 1 I X masx or I REFRACTIQN n j,

FIG. 6

M/VE/VTOR CC. CUTLER BY A 7' TORNE V Patented Feb. 16 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims. (01. 25 0-3353) This invention relates to electromagnetic refractors and particularly to methods and means for preventing reflection from the face or surface of such refractors.

As is known, considering a ray or wavelet impinging upon the face of a lens and polarized in the plane of incidence, zero surface reflection occurs when the incidence angle, that is, the angle between the path of the ray and the normal to the iens'face at the point of impingement of the is equal to the so-called pseudo-Brewster angle, and minimum reflection occurs when the incident angle is smaller than the pseudo-Brewster angle.

In general, the incident angle is dependent upon the curvature of the convex or ccncave lens face and, assuming the Waves are emitted at the focal point or focal line of the lens, it is also a function of the lens focal length. Also, the reflection from the central or vertex portion of the concave or convex lens is usually relatively small since the incident angles are usually smaller than the pseudo-Brewster angTe. On the other hand, the amount of reflection from the peripheral portion of the lens face may not be small because of the large incident angles. Accordingly,

it appears desirable to obtain a lens having a curvature such that for waves emitted at the focus, all incident angles are preferably smaller or, in any event, only slightly larger than the pseudo-Brewster angle whereby surface reflection is reduced to a minimum.

It is one object of this invention to eliminate reflection from a face of a refractor.

It is another object of this invention to minimize reflection from a solid dielectric or a metallic lens having a short focal line.

It is still another object of this invention to minimize reflection from. the peripheral portion of a curvate lens face.

In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, the outer or peripheral portion of the curvate back face of adelay lens having a short focal length has a concave curvature such that, at every point on this face portion, the incident angles are equalto or smaller than the pseudo-- Brewster angle, whereby reflection from this face portion is a minimum. The central portion of the aforesaid face is convex and reflection is a minimum since the various incident angles are smaller than the related pseudo-Brewster angles. The contour of the opposite or front face is convex and correlated with the curvature of the back face to produce the desired focusing effect.

The invention will be more fully understood from the following specification taken in conjunction with the drawing on which like reference characters denote elements of similar function and on which:

Fig. 1 is a top sectional view and Fig. 2 is a side sectional view of one embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 3 is a curve illustrating the reflection-angle characteristic of polystyrene;

Fig, 4 is a diagram used in explaining the mannor of determining the front and back curvatures of the lens illustrated in Fig. 1; s

Fig. 5 is a top sectional view and Fig. 6 a side sectional view of a different embodiment of the invention;

Fig. l is a developed diagram used for explaining the manner of determining the curvatures of the lens illustrated in Fig. 5; and

Figs. 8, 9, l0 and 11 are curves illustrating four different characteristics for a system constructed in accordance with Figs. 5 and 6.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, there is shown a microwave radio system comprising a sectoral horn having a throat 2 and a mouth 3, a wave guide i connecting the throat 2 to a translation device 5, such as a transmitter, a receiver or a transceiver, and a polystyrene lens 5 mounted in the mouth of the horn. The lens 6 has a line focus i, an axis 8, a convex front face 3 and a back face 10 having a convex central or vertex portion l l and a concave outer or peripheral portion l2. The manner of determining the curvatures of the front and back faces is explained be: low. The numerals l3 and Mden'ote, respectively, the vertices of the front and back faces 9 and I0. Four matching grooves 15, each a quarter Wavelength deep, are provided on the front and back faces 9 and H! of the lens 6. The matching grooves per so are not essential and do not form a part of the present invention.

In transmitting operation, waves polarized as shown by arrow [B are supplied by the transmitting device 5 to the guide 4 and horn throat 2, and a cylindrical wave front I! is established in the horn l. The cylindrical wave front 17 impinges on the back face Ill of the lens 6 and, as is now well understood in the art, the matching grooves l5 function to reduce a certain amount of the reflection from the back face H]. In pass ing through the lens 6', the phase velocity or the wave is retarded as shown by the dot-dash line 18 an amount such that the outgoing wave has a plane wave front l9.

In determining the curvatures of the front and back faces of the lens, the curvature of the back face is first ascertained and the contour of the front face is calculated to give uniform phase on a plane, that is, to produce a plane outgoing wave front. As already stated, the incident angles at the back face should be small enough to reduce reflection. For waves polarized parallel to the vertical plane of incidence the angles of incidence should not be much greater, and preferably equal to or somewhat smaller, than the pseudo-Brewster angle for the particular refractive medium utilized; and for waves polarized perpendicular to the vertical plane of incidence, they should be even smaller.

Referring to Fig. 3, the curve 28 illustrates, for polystyrene, the relation between the incident wave angle and the ratio of the energies in the reflected and incident waves. As shown by curve 29, for polystyrene the angle of zero reflection, or the so-called pseudo-Brewster angle, is 57 degrees. Hence, in the embodiment of the Figs. 1, and 2, the peripheral portion of the back face should be shaped so as to render the incident angles equal to 57 degrees, whereby zero reflection occurs or, in any event, it should be shaped so as to render the incident angles smaller than 71 degrees whereby minimum reflection, corresponding to an 0.05 ratio or less, is obtained. In reception, the converse operation is secured, that is, an incoming plane wave front is converted to a cylindrical wave front converging on the focal line 1. The matching grooves I5 on the front face 9 function to reduce the reflection of the incoming wave a given amount, in a manner analogous to the grooves l5 on the back face it].

In designing the lens of Figs. 1 and 2,.the general configuration of the lens, such as convexoconvex is first determined. Also, referring to Fig. 4, the distance d3 from the source or focus 1 to the vertex M of the back face Ill, and the maximum or axial thickness to of the lens are selected. In general, in determining the contours of the back and front faces, sharp curvatures should be avoided.

where n is the index of reflection for the lens 6, 01 is the phase velocity in the horn I, this the phasevelocity in the lens 6.

For transverse electric (TE01) waves such as waves having the polarization [6, we have where M is the cut-off wavelength in the horn, M is the cut-off wavelength in the lens,

Now, in order to render the longest path dz and the shortest path d1 equal, we have 4 where to is the maximum thickness of the lens. Accordingly,

where d3 is the distance from the line focus I to the vertex l4. Hence, the position of the vertex l4 relative to the focus 1 may be determined.

The curvature of the vertex portion of the back face 10 should not be so great as to cause a convergence of the rays within the lens, that is RidaUZ-l) (5) With the limitations on the contour of the back face I0 as given above, three points on the curvature, to wit, the vertex point 14, the extreme or peripheral point 2| and an intermediate point 22, may be ascertained from the following quadratic where r, is the distance from the focal line I to the intermediate point 22,

0, is the angle between the axis 8 and the line 23 connecting the focus 1 and the intermediate point 22,

a, b and c are constants.

mined, the contour of the front face 9 is next ascertained. Thus 1 d7 -l 0' tan 11 A i a+bol +oa (8) where c is the incident angle at point 22, that is, the angle between the normal 24 at point 22 and the incident direction 23. Now

p =sinsin c) (9) where p is the angle of refraction. and

where 0, is the angle between the direction 25 of the refracted wave and the axis 8. I

For a wavelet following the directions 23 and 25, the total phase shift from the focal line I through the lens 6 to the outgoing plane front I 9 is l+ 2+ 3)i (11) where A, is the wavelength in the horn, as measured outside of the lens, 1r equals 3.14, I is the phase shift in degrees.

Also, from Fig. 4 we have r,,=d,r cos 0,r cos 0, (12) Hence,

' Referring now to Figs. and 6, the radio 'sys- Item-illustrated is similar to that illustrated by Figs. 1 and 2; More particularly, there is showna sectoral horn 26 comprising a vertical parallel plate section 27 haying a tapered width, 2, horizontal, parallel plate section 28 having. a tapered width and a short section 29 having a tapered width and a tapered height or'plate. separation and connected to the horizontal section. A 90- degree'section 3c is coupled to the vertical section 21 and, the short tapered section 29. lhe plate separation of section 28v is greater than that of sections 21 or 30. Numeral 3! denotes a lens formed of polystyrene andpositioned in the horizontal horn section 28. As shown on the drawing, the upper plate or wall 32 of the horizontal horn section extends beyond the lower wall 33 and is bent or curved so that the horn mouth faces downwardly. Numeral (:4 denotes a movable flare member attached'to the upper wall 32. The operation ofthis system of Figs, 5 and 6 is substantially the same as that of the system illustrated by Figs. 1 and 2.

The contours of the. front and back faces of thelens differ from the contours of lens 6, Figs. 1 and 2, because the short tapered section as must be considered as a surface or boundary between two media 28 and 30 (27) having different indices of refraction. Thus if the ratio of the refractive indices of 21 and 26 (Fig. 7) isnf,

v" fl/=57;

and

r,=n'r,'+r," (18) where r, is the distance measured along a ray to a point in the taper 26, and 1'," is the distance along the same ray measured to the lens face In.

Also,

sin 0 sin 61' where 0, and 0," are the ray angles in 2! and 26 respectively. Now

Now it is again desirable that the first lens surface not cause beam convergence, that is,

With this limitation and the limitation that the angle of incidence should not greatly exceed the pseudo-Brewster angle, we can proceed to determine the first lens surface. More specifically,

let 1', be a simple even order polynominalfunm tion of 0,",

rl +b ln 2 ell! 4 and use three arbitrarilyselected points to determine the values of theconstants. Proceeding as before we have:

2b0,+4c0 -l 0' tan a+b0l,, 1,, (24) 1 ==s1nsin a i (25 Referring to Figs. 8, 9, 10 and 11, Fig. 8 illustrates the measured directive pattern or characteristic, Fig. 9 illustrates the measured band width characteristic, Fig. 10 the measured phase. characteristic, and Fig. 11 the measured-amplitude characteristic, of an antenna construct;

ed in accordance with Figs. 5 and G and with the long dimensions of the horn mouth twenty six inches. Directive pattern 35, Fig. 8, taken in the plane of the long dimension of the horn mouth 3, is highly satisfactory since the half power width 36 at 3 decibels down of the major lobe 31 is approximately 1.2 degrees and the minor lobes 33 are more than 18 decibels below the peak of the major lobe. As shown by the curve 39, Fig. 9, the horn antenna of Figs. Sand 6 is highly useful over a four-per cent frequency band since the measured standing wave ratio in the guide 4 is between 0.5 and 1.0 decibel.

addition the phasev and amplitude characteris tics are satisfactory since the phase curve). Fig. 10, and the amplitude curve 4|, Fig. 11, are

. fairly flat over the long dimension of the horn mouth.

Although the invention has been explained in connection with said embodiments thereof, itisto be understood that it is-not to be. limited-to these embodiments inasmuch as other apparatus may be successfully employed in practicing the invention. In particular, while the inven-. tion has been explained in connection with a solid dielectric delay lens, it may be satisfac! torily used in plane-concave metallic fast lenses of the type disclosed in the copending application of W. E. Kock. Serial No. 6-42,723,'filed January 6, 1946, and in the piano-convex slow or delay lens of the type disclosed in the. co-

pending application of W. E. Kock Serial No..

748,447, filed May 16, 1947, which last-mentioned application matured into United States Patent 2,579,324, granted December 18, 1951.

What is claimed is:

1. A dielectric lens for use within the mouth aperture of a high frequency, electromagnetic wave, waveguide, sectoral horn, said lens being assembled within said horn mouth aperture and having a line focus in the throat aperture of said horn and a longitudinal axis coincident with the longitudinal axis of said horn and perpendicularly bisecting said focal line, said axes being situated on the median plane parallel to and midway between the parallel sides of said sectoral horn, said lens converting high frequency electromagnetic wave energy, radiated into said horn at said throat aperture, into a plane wavefront wave at the mouth aperture of said horn, the maximum thickness of the lens, from its surface nearer said focal line to its surface more remote from said focal iine, measuredalong the longitudinal axis of said lens, being 2'' 1 fn--l where (1 is the shortest path from the focal line through the lens to the plane wavefront at the far side of the lens, (1, is the longest path in said median plane from the focal line through the lens to the plane wavefront at the far side of the lens and n is the ratio of the phase velocity of saidenergy in the horn to the phase velocity in the lens, the curvature about the vertex of the nearer surface of the lens being not greater than d,(n-l), where d, is the difference between the parameters (1 and t as defined above, and n is the ratio defined above, the contour of the surface of the lens nearer said focal line in said'median plane being defined by; the quadratic r,='a+b0, +c0, where r, is the distance in said median plane from the focal line to a particular point selected on said nearer surface intermediate said shortest and said longest paths, 0, is the angle between the longitudinal axis of the lens and the line joining said focal line and the selected point, and a, b and care constants obtained by solutions of the said quadratic for the three energy'paths from said focal line to said plane wavefront as described above, the X and Y coordinates in said median plane of any point on the said far surface of said lens being defined, with respect to anorigin at the intersection of the focal line and the longitudinal axis of the lens, by the equations X=r cos 0,+r cos 0,, and Y=T1 sin 0 4-1", sin 0, where r, and 0, are as defined above, 1', is the path in the lens followed by energy passing through point X, Y, and is defined by the equation I 1 n-cos 0 and 0, is the angle of r, with respect to the longitudinal axis of the lens, the parameters (1,, (l n, 13, and 0,, being as defined above.

2; A dielectric lens, having a focal point on the longitudinal axis of said lens, for use with high frequency electromagnetic wave energy and adapted to convert circular wavefront energy originating at said focal point and directed toward the nearer surface of said lens into plane wavefront energy at the more remote or far side of said lens, the maximum thickness between thenearer and the more remote surfaces of said lens, measured along its longitudinal axis, being where d, is the shortest path from the focal point through the lens to the plane wavefront at the far side of the lens, (1, is the longest path from the focal point through the lens to the plane wavefront and n is the ratio of the phase velocity of the energy outside the lens to the phase velocity of the energy in the lens, the curvature about the vertex of the nearer surface of the lens being not greater than da(nl) Where 113 is the difference between the parameters (11 and to as defined above, and n is the ratio defined above, the contour of the surface of the lens nearer said focal point being defined by the quadratic r =a+b03+c0f where r is the distance from the focal point to a particular point selected on said nearersurfa'ce intermediate said shortest and said longest paths, 0, is the angle between the longitudinal axis of' the lens and the line joining said focal point and the selected point, and a, b and c are constants obtained by solution of the said quadratic for the three energy paths from said focal point tosaid plane wavefront as described above, the X and Y coordinates of any point on the saidfar' surface of said lens being defined with respect to an origin at the focal point, by the equations where r, and 0, are as defined above, T, is the path in the lens followed by energy passing throughpoint X, Y, and is defined by the equation and 0, is the angle of 1', with respect to the lon-' gitudinal axis of the lens, the parameters d,, d. 11,13, and 0,, being as defined above.

CASSIUS c. CUTLER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHER REFERENCES Metal Lens Antennas, by Kock, Proc. I. R. E., November 1946; pages828 -836, 

